Stu ready to send Watford down

STUART Pearce will feel no sympathy for Adrian Boothroyd if City boot Watford out of the Premiership. After months of battling against the odds, Watford will finally be put out of their misery should they fail to beat City at Vicarage Road.

STUART Pearce will feel no sympathy for Adrian Boothroyd if City boot Watford out of the Premiership.

After months of battling against the odds, Watford will finally be put out of their misery should they fail to beat City at Vicarage Road.

Even victory will not be enough to keep the Hornets afloat should Sheffield United overcome Charlton and both Fulham and Wigan avoid defeat.

However, while he realises his side could trigger a wake, Pearce has no thought for anything other than ensuring City collect maximum points.

"Watford's fate is irrelevant to me," he said.

"My only concern is Manchester City, so there is no way we will roll over to give them a lifeline.

"We know exactly what we are going to get from them. They will be aggressive, they will work hard and they will keep going for the full 90 minutes. That is the nature of their manager and that is what they have been doing all year.

"Barring two or three occasions, every time they have played this season, the opposition know they have been in a game."

Judging by Watford's performance at Blackburn on Wednesday, last weekend's crushing FA Cup semi-final loss to Manchester United sucked the last of their spirit away.

With just four wins from 34 games, Boothroyd's side have struggled throughout the campaign.

And while his position is not under immediate threat, Boothroyd knows he will be under intense pressure to drive Watford straight back into the top flight next term.

But Pearce believes any disgruntled fans should look back at the last two seasons and judge Boothroyd rather than just focus on the current poor one.

Affected

"Last season, Watford were tipped to get relegated from the Championship, now they are in the Premiership," recalled Pearce.

"It has been hard for them this year. Any manager would say they need their big-hitters available as much as possible, so Marlon King being out for so long has affected them.

"But they will be on a massively better financial footing now than they were two years ago, so probably the mark of their season, if they do get relegated, is how well do next year."

If Emile Mpenza fails to recover from a hip injury, Pearce is expected to stick with the side that performed so creditably for 75 minutes at Arsenal on Tuesday.

Although only mathematicians would argue City are still in relegation trouble, their manager is determined not to let the campaign just drift to its conclusion.

A place in the top 10, which has appeared a pipedream for most of the season, is still just about within reach.

Such an achievement would be all the more incredible given City's woeful goalscoring record.

The scoreless draw with Watford in November is one of six on home soil this term.

They have found the net on only 10 occasions - and not since New Year's Day - on home soil, six fewer than anyone else, and only Watford's overall scoring record is worse than their 27.

Most of the blame has been pinned on misfiring duo Georgios Samaras and Bernardo Corradi, who have scored just seven times between them in the league.

Yet Pearce refuses to condemn individuals, preferring instead for his team to take collective responsibility for the lack of threat in attack.

"Certain players have done well and certain others haven't," he said.

"But it is important not to blame individuals. As a collective, Manchester City will be in a league placing that, after 38 games, doesn't lie. We need to learn from that."